Leave it to the Italians to define the Obama presidency. Of course in
With over half our
population on prescription drugs for stress, I think the Italians just might
have something. When I worked for the
governor in New Jersey I had an Italian
secretary, a true Joisey girl, who introduced me to the wonderful world of ‘il
dolce far niente’ through her immediate and extended family in the
Ironbound section of Newark ,
New Jersey
The Ironbound is one of
the most incredible pockets of Old World cultural preservation anywhere in America Newark , the
main office being in Trenton , and for a time I
was assigned to the Jersey Department of Energy located in Newark
Over a period of six years
I got to witness the art of sweet nothingness where you could drop into a
dinner of 15 underway without notice and have plenty to eat. At the table the language was more often than
not Old World Italian yet you always knew you were welcome and appreciated.
As for topics discussed
around the table, anything under the sun as long as you contained your passion
out of respect for those who might disagree.
I was a very motivated and well-informed chief of staff so I was always
prepared to talk about the state, the federal government or international
affairs.
It seems the Italians had
such few expectations for our governments they did not spend much time on the
subject. It was also a potential source
for stress.
One time one of the many
uncles around the table asked me what I did for the Energy Department and I
said that week we were working on the clean up of Three
Mile Island , the worst nuclear accident in American history. He rolled his eyes and made some comment
which I assumed meant "and that is another reason we don't talk about the
government."
Makes sense. Family dinners are no place to discuss
nuclear catastrophes and TMI is a lot more likely to stress out someone than
comparing pastas. Everyone should have
occasion to join an extended Italian family for a three hour dinner before they
start taking those prescription mind benders.
In time I went to the
marriage of my former secretary in the largest Basilica in America
As for Obama, well he has
the "sweetness of doing nothing" down pat but it costs the taxpayer
over a billion dollars a year for our president to do nothing.
In the process he
continues to set back international relations week by week as all the
"Arab Spring" incidents have backfired on America Iraq and Afghanistan
Forget about the two
nations in the best position to help us with Syria ,
Iran or North Korea Russia
and China
Then there is the forever
lingering "financial crisis."
Our greed seems to have spilled over to the rest of the world and we
nearly brought down the global financial system in a series of amazing rip offs
of government.
Anyone who believed the
American financial system, the most powerful by a long ways in the world, ever
intended to serve the public interest as opposed to their own selfish interest
is obviously under-medicated.
As near as I can tell it
costs us about $27 million a week for the president and his White House
operation. That is a lot to pay someone
to do nothing. Throw in the cost of congress
and military protecting us around the world and we are suddenly paying about
$19 billion a week.
The World Health
Organization estimates we spent $8608 per capita on health care in 2011. In other words, about $2.7 trillion, or put
in other terms, another $50-60 billion a week.
I don't care how you cut
it, we seem to be paying way, way too much for people to enjoy ‘il
dolce far niente’ on a 24/7 basis.
People like that need a wake up call, like being dropped kicked through
the end zone goalposts.
So health care prices
including medication, treatment, hospitals and health insurance continue to
increase and we have a long ways to go to even begin to implement the law. Nowhere in the law do we address in a
meaningful way the cost of health care although the law talks a lot about
Medicare fraud.
Unfortunately, the biggest
fraud in Medicare is not even addressed.
When it comes to diseases and drugs profit is the first consideration
and there is no profit in getting you well.
Instead we get a battery of meaningless tests to prove what we do not
have, all the while being given multiple prescriptions of dangerous drugs to
keep us happy during the many tests.
There is nothing good
about a system where healing comes way down the priority list. Nor is there when a system can spend tens of
thousands of dollars or more when cat scans or other exotic tests are given.
Our medical community
lives in a constant conflict of interest and makes money off everything they do
to keep you sick, keep you medicated and keep you believing that doctors and
medical people are the most trustworthy people in America
So maybe our president and
congress can enjoy ‘il dolce far niente’ because they have conditioned us to
accept nothing as good for the country.
Just think of how many things would be wrong if they actually passed
more laws and did something.
One the other hand, we would all be a lot happier and better off spiritually and morally at least if we did follow the advice of our Italian friends,‘il dolce far niente’, enjoy the sweetness of doing nothing.
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